In college classrooms, gender roles are all too clear. I’m tired of listening to inflated egos speak whatever is on their minds, their comments entertained by professors. I’m tired of being undermined, spoken over and mansplained to.

With the addiction epidemic being a frequent topic in the news, I am constantly reminded of my past. My best friend, Gabe, died from an accidental drug overdose from painkillers a few years ago. We had been friends since I was 2 years old. How can drug abuse be prevented? We need to stop focusing on drugs as an abstraction and start teaching kids real and personal stories about drug use, and what to do when they learn that someone they know or care about is experimenting with drugs.

Most faculty and students agree that students should have the opportunity to convey their thoughts and opinions about the courses they take and the instruction they receive. But, the recent article in The Daily Targum glosses over substantial concerns with regard to the validity, fairness and harmful consequences of student evaluation surveys. Here at Rutgers, there are few mechanisms for encouraging or requiring student response to on-line surveys. As a result, response rates in some courses can be extremely low, resulting in statistically invalid results.

It is often said that if one hears a lie long enough, they begin to believe it. This dictum clearly applies the concept of diversity. In an almost Orwellian fashion, phrases like “diversity is our strength” are constantly repeated by educators, politicians and the media (namely, of course, CNN). Individuals who dare question ethnic and cultural diversity are cast out as racists and bigots (terms that have taken on an almost transcendent and evil connotation, much like the words heretic and blasphemer). The unfortunate reality is that there is no evidence that ethnic or cultural diversity is a force for good. In fact, diversity seems to be a net negative on society.

The feminist movement has grown since its birth, for better or worse. From its inception at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, feminism has made tremendous strides towards egalitarian respect for women. Today, feminist ideals bleed into every facet of mainstream culture, from international social media campaigns to the prospect of having a first female president.

Certainly, with the time of giving thanks just passing, we all ought not to overlook Rutgers workers in our expressions of gratitude. It should be obvious to any member of the Rutgers community the extent to which the University relies on its faculty and staff for its quotidian functions. The services on which Rutgers, as an institution, relies are provided by a host of University employees, employees who too often remain invisible to and under-appreciated by the community at large.

Last week, the House of Representatives quietly voted to send thousands of Rutgers students into poverty. Entitled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the plan will both raise taxes on graduate students — in some cases tripling or quadrupling them — and force many of us to quit our jobs. As an English Ph.D. student, I can appreciate the ironic wordplay, even as I deplore the results.

Much of modern medicine is built on the foundation of antibiotics. Organ transplants and other major surgeries are much less risky when antibiotics are available to treat any infections that may arise during recovery. Cancer treatments that often reduce the effectiveness of an individual’s immune system would be significantly riskier or non existent without antibiotics. Antibiotics are relied on by much of the medical world, which is why it is hard to believe that antibiotics might one day stop working.

Rutgers University is supposed to be a safe and encouraging environment for students to learn about their passions. A large component to this goal is the faculty employed at the University. Over the past several weeks, it has been revealed that several members of the Rutgers faculty have backgrounds and hold beliefs that are antithetical to the ideals that we have as a University.

In September, President Donald J. Trump’s announcement to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that would allow undocumented immigrants “who came to the United States as children and (met) several guidelines (to) request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal,” startled the Rutgers community.

I am just going to come out and say it:I do not like Quentin Tarantino. I find him pretentious.Adele has a lovely voice but is seriously overrated and kind of boring.Golf is not a sport.I thought the season of "Doctor Who" with Matt Smith was the worst since the reboot.Mojitos are gross.The things I have just stated will no doubt make a lot of people angry at me.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month — a truly noble cause. To help raise awareness, several Rutgers organizations stepped up to bring former Vice President Joe Biden to campus to talk about sexual assault, violence and prevention.With the revelations about President Donald J.

Seventy-five years ago this November, American forces began
Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of fascist-occupied North Africa and the
first action seen by American ground troops in the European Theater.

On Sept. 13, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) laid out the details of his new bill: The “Medicare for All Act of 2017.” The proposal already has 16 co-sponsors, and it has undoubtedly galvanized his constituency.

Shades of 1996! For over 50 years, through good times and mostly bad, I’ve rooted for three football teams: the Giants, the Jets and Rutgers.Diehard fans of the Giants or Jets might chastise me with the cri de coeur, “What kind of fan roots for both of them?!” It’s easy, I confess, because I’m totally a fair-weather fan, and it applies to all the major professional sports.

“Nine-year-olds should not have iPhones.” “Back in my day we’d talk to people, not screens.” “Kids are growing up too fast these days.” These comments represent just a few of the copious qualms people harbor about the upcoming generation and its addiction to technology.